Freshly Made Sketches #474

Hello everyone! We have a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! It is my pleasure to be hosting this week with a fun sketch for you to try.

It's always interesting to see what "starts" a card for me. Usually it's an image I would like to use, or perhaps a pretty paper. Today it's googly eyes! I have had a package of them sitting out on my desk for several days, and I decided to use them on this week's sketch. I love when I see them on others' cards, and never remember that I have them when they are put away. So here are my little bees with their funny eyes.

The paper pieced bees, sentiments, and cute patterned paper are all from Honey Bee Stamps. The sparkly gold hexagon die is from Whimsy Stamps. Don't those little guys just make you smile? And it IS gonna be okay!

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge will end at 3:00 EST time on Monday, March 1st. Be sure to stop at the Freshly Made Sketches blog, and click on the names of my teammates to see the beautiful cards they have created this week! 

I want to give a special shout out to team member Jen T, as she starts her training in Denver for the next two weeks to become a Captain flying the skies for United! Sending you all the good vibes, Jen!

Get Well Soon with Festive Friday #FF0078

Happy Friday! I hope you are staying warm. Finally, an end to the craziest weather week ever. We started out with -46 wind chill, and finished with a heat wave of 21 degrees (felt like spring!).

Today there is a new challenge up at Festive Friday! We are celebrating International Women's Day (March 8)! If you are new to the FF Challenges, you can choose any three items (or more!) from our list to inspire your creativity. Your card does not have to specifically be about women, as you can see from my submission this week! For my card today, I chose flowers, glitter, and watercolor from the list.

First of all, I cheated just a little this week. I wanted to make a get well card for my sister, who has been in the hospital. Her favorite color is pink and she loves flowers. So I chose this gorgeous pink floral patterned paper -- that is watercolored! It is from the gorgeous Bloom & Wild collection from Craft Consortium. If you love designer paper, and haven't checked them out, now is the time. My most favorite papers ever. You can find them HERE.

I cut out two panels with the retired Elizabeth Crafts Dashing Rectangle dies. Next, I added glittery highlights on some of the flowers with my Nuvo Shimmer Pen. I stamped the sentiments from Life Sucks Without You (Picket Fence Studios) and added sequins from the Metropolis Mix (also PFS). Very simple, but very pretty!

I hope you will join us for this challenge. Remember, you can choose any three from the list, for any occasion or theme! The challenge is open until Monday, March 1.  

For more inspiration, visit the rest of the FF Team:

Ann Schach

Beth McCullough

Sharon Hashimoto Burkert

Melanie Hungerford

Helen Jennings

Stephanie Lanzalotto

Melva Peters

 

Celebrating You with Freshly Made Sketches #473

Hello everyone! We have a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, and the very talented and sweet Amy is our hostess this week!

This week I decided to start working with more florals. I don't use them very often, and they're so pretty. I started by stamping my rose from Altenew with VersaFine Clair Nocturne. After that was dry I chose three pink inks, and misted the stamp with water each time after adding ink using my MISTI.  

I did the same with the leaves, and two colors of bright green. I chose a textured embossing folder from Fun Stampers Journey for the middle panel. The flower and main panel are popped up with foam tape. I finished the card by adding some sparkle with Moonshine Sequins from PFS.

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge will end at 3:00 EST time on Monday, February 22nd. Be sure to stop at the Freshly Made Sketches blog, and click on the names of my teammates to see the beautiful cards they have created this week!

Picket Fence Studios' February Release!

Happy Valentines Day! I hope you all are getting some yummy chocolate candy today! If not, or if you don't like chocolate, we have some eye candy for you with the February release at Picket Fence Studios!

Today I am sharing two cards using two of the new stencils being released today. First up is this colorful Center Flower 6x6 Stencil.

I used two colors of Distress Oxide Ink and my Life Changing Blender Brushes for the ink blended background. I stamped one of the flower groups and a sentiment from the previously released Que Sera Sera to finish the card. I used the Coordinating Die to cut out the flowers after they were Copic colored.

Next up is the English Brick Wall 6x6 Stencil. I used a partial stencil with DOX ink, and added one of the pens from Color Like A Bird Sings (January release) and the new Fancy Congratulations Sentiments (best news ever) for the sentiment. A true CAS!

There is much more to see, so head over to Picket Fence Studios to see it all and grab yourself a valentine surprise!

Hello Friend! Freshly Made Sketches #472

Hello everyone! We have a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, and the very talented Narelle is our hostess this week!

I decided on a very CAS design this week. I just received my yummy box of Kitsch Flamingo products, so I had to use pink on my card. I stamped the Ink Splat AT0108 from Fun Stampers Journey using the Distress Oxide version of KF. Once that was dry, I added two sentiments from the Wet Paint 2800 Stamp Set by Papertrey Ink using VersaFine Clair Nocturne. I found a matching pink cardstock for my card base, and voila!

I hope you will join our sketch challenge this week, and add your creations to our gallery! This challenge will end at 3:00 EST time on Monday, February 15th. On Tuesday, we will announce the winner of this week's challenge who will be known as the "Queen or King of Clean". The team will choose other gallery favorites to be known as a "Perfect Princess or Prince".  

Be sure to stop at the Freshly Made Sketches blog, and click on the names of my teammates to see the beautiful cards they have created this week! 

Turtle Love with Festive Friday #FF0077

Happy Friday! I hope you have had a good week!

Today there is a new challenge up at Festive Friday! We are celebrating International Polar Bear Day! If you are new to the FF Challenges, you can choose any three items (or more!) from our list to inspire your creativity. Your card does not have to be about polar bears, as you can see from my submission this week! For my card today, I chose blue, silver, water (via a stencil), and a sentiment from the list.

I started with a stencil from Brutus Monroe and used my DOX inks and blending brushes to mimic water. I then stamped Turtle Family (also Brutus Monroe) - both sentiment and turtles - in Hero Arts Intense Black and colored with Copics. I cut two circle rings from silver glitter cardstock and hooked them together. A few fun sequins, and the card came together quickly!

I hope you will join us for this challenge. Remember, you can choose any three from the list, for any occasion or theme! The challenge is open until Monday, February 15.  

For more inspiration, visit the rest of the FF Team:

Ann Schach

Beth McCullough

Sharon Hashimoto Burkert

Melanie Hungerford

Helen Jennings

Stephanie Lanzalotto

Melva Peters

All Glazed Up! New Paper Glaze from PFS!

Happy last day of January! I always feel like once we get into February (even though there are many winter days, and some the worst) that Spring is on the horizon. At least that is what gets me there! This being said while we have a foot of snow and sub zero temps this week. Ha!

Well, today I am sharing a sunny outlook with you, showing off the new Yellow Primrose Paper Glaze from Picket Fence Studios! There are three new pastel colors this month, and I adore them so much, they have become my new favorite colors! Very shimmery and subtle!

I started with the new Slimline Rising Sun Stencil, and added the Paper Glaze with my palette knife. I gave it a pretty good thickness,and let it dry for several minutes. When almost dry, I added a thin layer of SPRK037 Gold Dust Essential Sparkle from WOW! Embossing on top of the glaze at the bottom. It sticks beautifully if the glaze is not totally dry. I then set aside to dry overnight. It doesn't actually take that long, but I wanted it to be ready for my heat gun. 

The next day I tapped my card to loosen the Sparkles that did not stick, and stamped the sentiment from Life Happens, Lashes Help with my WOW! Embossing Pad. This pad stays wet longer than most others, and gives you a chance to get a great impression. The WC01 Metallic Gold Rich Pale Embossing Powder was a perfect complement to my glaze and glitter. 

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you will try some of the glaze. There are many colors to choose from. Just a couple of tips: Be sure to clean your stencils right away, as once dry, it's pretty much glazed always. And try mixing your own colors by combining glazes!